Yamoussoukro Gestoci Depot: Sangafowa-Coulibaly Inaugurates a 20,000 m³ Diesel Tank and the Country's First Bottom-Loading Station

Two major acts that consolidate Côte d’Ivoire’s role as an energy hub in West Africa. On Friday, July 24, 2026, in Yamoussoukro, Mamadou Sangafowa-Coulibaly, Minister of Mines, Petroleum, and Energy, jointly inaugurated the R14 tank with a capacity of 20,000 m³ of diesel and the bottom-loading station of the Société de Gestion des Stocks Pétroliers de Côte d’Ivoire (GESTOCI, The Ivorian company responsible for the storage of petroleum products.). The ceremony took place at the Yamoussoukro site, three years after the inauguration at the same location of the R12 tank dedicated to unleaded super gasoline.

With this dual achievement, the storage capacity of the Yamoussoukro depot now reaches a nominal 100,700 m³, making Gestoci the national pioneer in bottom-loading tank trucks for both unleaded super gasoline and diesel. An additional 6,000 m³ water tank was also built to secure the facilities.

Ibrahima Doumbia, Director General of Gestoci, emphasized that this progress aligns with the vision of the President of the Republic and the company's 2025–2030 roadmap, which aims to make Côte d’Ivoire"the essential oil hub of West and Central Africa." He announced an extensive portfolio of upcoming projects: a 40,000 m³ unleaded super gasoline tank at the Abidjan depot, the rehabilitation of the Bouaké depot (48,000 m³), as well as the construction of new depots in Odienné and San Pedro, each with a capacity of 40,000 m³.

Beyond the technical aspects, the Director General of Gestoci highlighted the project's integration into the local content policy promoted by the Government, through technology transfer and the skill enhancement of national talents deployed on the site.

Tank Truck Loading Time Reduced from 45 to 15 Minutes

Speaking on behalf of the Government, Minister Sangafowa-Coulibaly contextualized the project within the Head of State's vision to make Côte d’Ivoire an upper-middle-income country by 2030, supported by the 2026–2030 National Development Plan, at an overall cost of over 114,000 billion FCFA.

On an operational level, the Minister stated that loading potential in Abidjan and Yamoussoukro Gestoci currently stands at 650 trucks per day, with a target of 1,800 trucks per day by 2030. This capacity increase will involve debottlenecking the Société Ivoirienne de Raffinage (SIR), raising national storage capacities to 583,000 m³ with this new tank, and generalizing bottom-loading for over 90% of liquid volumes thanks to approximately 3,000 equipped trucks. The Minister assured that this transition would be gradual in the interest of transporters, as loading time per truck drops to 15 minutes, down from 45 minutes previously.

Sangafowa-Coulibaly also revealed that Côte d’Ivoire will build a second refinery (170,000 barrels/day) before 2040with a capacity nearly three times that of the current SIR refinery to be located in San Pedro. The plans also include a multi-product pipeline connecting Abidjan to Ferké and new storage capacities in Odienné, Ferké, San Pedro, and Yamoussoukro Gestoci. This deployment is part of the ministry's integrated mineral resources and energy policy, carrying a total cost of 38,000 billion FCFA, 88% of which is funded by the private sector.

Thanks to hydrocarbon discoveries described as "world-class," Côte d’Ivoire is expected to become a net exporter of petroleum products by 2030. Furthermore, Côte d’Ivoire will be the country trading the largest volume of energy with its neighbors in the sub-region, consolidating its role as a regional energy hub.

In closing, Minister Sangafowa-Coulibaly praised the professionalism of the technical teams that carried the project from design to completion.